Book Review: The Hobbit

J.R.R Tolkien lived an incredible life which has been noted to pay great influence on the stories he wrote. His works have been argued as one of the foremost contributions to fantasy fiction within modern society. His stories all take place in the world of Middle Earth, a fantastical world with a dense and creative history behind it. One of the first entries into the world Tolkien created was inspired by his children. Tolkien was noted to spend a lot of time discussing his ideas about Middle Earth and his stories with his children, so it seems appropriate his first entry into the world of Middle Earth was designed with them in mind. This book was titled The Hobbit and became one of the most recognisable entries in the fantasy genre; selling over 600 million copies as of 2021.

The premise behind The Hobbit follows a character of the titular race called Bilbo Baggins. Mr Baggins enjoys the homely comforts in his Hobbit Hole in Hobbiton. He's so content with his life of comfort and relaxation that he seeks no other type of adventure or distraction. That is until Gandalf the Grey pays him a visit one day and ends up drawing him into an unwilling proposition with a merry band of dwarfs. The dwarfs are led by Thorin Oakenshield, the air to a dwarven kingdom long lost. They seek Bilbo's assistance as a burglar to sneak into their ancient home; the Lonely Mountain which has been long lost after a great dragon called Smaug. Initially against the idea, after enough thought Bilbo braves the unknown world outside his door to follow the band on their journey across the mountains and valleys to reclaim what was long lost. This adventure is no easy task and will put Bilbo and the dwarfs in confrontation with a multitude of dangers all of which help make this adventure a truly memorable one for our titular Hobbit.

I think the best strength of this book is easily it's world building. You can see how much depth and thought Tolkien put into defining this world. There's a reason the Middle Earth series has a plethora of entries to this day, it's all down to Tolkien's expansive lore. The descriptions he puts into the settings, characters and situations project with sheer confidence behind the distinct world he and his children helped create. The adventure Bilbo and his company take is filled with a creative sense of wonder and there's no moment in this journey that feels repetitive or uninspired. It's a consistent collection of memorable scenarios littered and paced smartly back to back. Some of the stand out moments for me specifically include Bilbo's encounter with Gollum deep in the heart of the Misty Mountains or the company's trek through the Spider-infested forests of Mirkwood.

While I adore the creative and detailed approach to the story and it's characters I can't help but note my struggle to fully adjust to Tolkien's writing style. I fully appreciate this was written in the 1930's and the writing and grammar reflects that period. Despite following along with the story and sequences easily enough it's hard not to feel Tolkien gets a bit distracted in the way he describes elements of the scenes. He seems to waffle a bit on certain parts and I felt the writing took it's time to get to the point of the scene Tolkien was trying to describe. Also while I do enjoy how much effort Tolkien put into filling this world with a collection of merry songs, they also add to the distractive criticisms I bring up. It just feels like as a writer he gets lost in his own world too easily and struggles to keep up with the purpose of the scene.

I think it's a small criticism in a lot of ways though because The Hobbit's core strength far out weighs it's weaknesses. The world Tolkien has created feels super easy to get lost in and it's a layered story which readers of any age can follow along with. With how much scale the world of Middle Earth has it's a great feat that The Hobbit introduces readers into this world through a nice and easy window. I look forwarding to delving into more of Tolkien's works going forward with his Lord of the Rings Trilogy